| Giant | |
|---|---|
 An illustration of a giant | |
| First appearance | Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974) |
| Based on | Giant Jötunn |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | 3rd and 3.5 editions: Giant 4th edition: Humanoid (origin varies) 5th edition: Giant |
| Alignment | Varies by type |
In theDungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game,giants are a collection of very large humanoid creatures based ongiants of legend, or in third edition, a "creature type".
Giants are humanoid creatures of great strength and size with a self-involved social focus[1]: 8 and are usually presented as the "bad guys" in the game.[2] They "often create their own societies away from the other races".[3] All giants have low-light vision. As a group, they have no other special abilities or immunities.Dwarves have a bonus to their armor class against attacks from creatures of the giant type, due to their experience with fighting these oversized foes.
Giants are based both on thegiants from mythology andthose appearing inJ.R.R. Tolkien's work. Their stone-throwing ability indicates their creative roots inwargaming.[4][5]
Giants were some of the earliest creatures introduced in theD&D game, appearing in the first 1974 edition.
Giants were among the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in theDungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), including the hill giant, the stone giant, the frost giant, the fire giant, and the cloud giant.[6] The storm giant first appears in the originalGreyhawk supplement (1975), where it is described as an intelligent giant found only in out-of-the-way places.[7]
A number of unique giants appear in Supplement IV:Gods, Demi-gods & Heroes (1976), including Antero Vipunen, Hymer, Hyrm, Mimir, Mokkerkalfe, Sterkodder, Surtur, and Vafthrunder, as well as the mist giants ofMelniboné.[8]
Giants appear in the first editionMonster Manual (1977), including the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant, the hill giant, the stone giant,[9] and the storm giant.[10] The stone giant appeared as acharacter class inWhite Dwarf #17, byLewis Pulsipher.[11] The fog giant and the mountain giant are introduced in the first editionFiend Folio (1981).[12] Thefomorian, thefirbolg, and the verbeeg appear in the first editionMonster Manual II (1983).[13]
Thewood giant appears in the "Dragon's Bestiary" column inDragon #119 (March 1987).
"[R]ampaging giants" feature as the eponymous center of the trilogy of adventure modulesSteading of the Hill Giant Chief,Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, andHall of the Fire Giant King.[14]
This edition of theD&D game includes its own version of giants, in theDungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977), including the hill giant, the stone giant, the frost giant, the fire giant, the cloud giant, and the storm giant;[15] these same giants also appear in theExpert Set (1981 and 1983),[16][17] The mountain giant and the sea giant appear in theDungeons & Dragons Master Rules (1985), in theMaster DM's Book.[18] The sea giant is presented as a playable character class inThe Sea People (1990). Giants also appear in theDungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991), including the hill giant, the stone giant, the frost giant, the fire giant, the cloud giant, the storm giant, the mountain giant, and the sea giant.[19] The cloud giant, fire giant, frost giant, hill giant, stone giant, and storm giant also appear in theDungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), and theClassic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994).
Giants appear throughout the 2nd editionMonstrous Compendium series. Giants appear first in theMonstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), including the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant.[20] Giant-kin appear in theMonstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), including thecyclops, the firbolg, the fomorian, and the verbeeg.[21] Two more giant-kin, thevoadkyn and the spriggan, appear in theMonstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990).[22] Thespacesea giant appears in the firstMonstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1990).[23] Three Zakharan giants, including the desert giant, the jungle giant, and the reef giant appear in theMonstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992).[24] The fog giant appears in theMonstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992). The firbolg giant-kin and the voadkyn giant-kin are detailed as playable character races inThe Complete Book of Humanoids (1993),[25]
Many of these giants are reprinted in theMonstrous Manual (1993), including the cloud giant, the cyclops, the desert giant, theettin, the firbolg, the fire giant, the fog giant, the formorian, the frost giant, the hill giant, the jungle giant, the mountain giant, the reef giant, the stone giant, the storm giant, the verbeeg, and the wood giant (voadkyn).[26]
The beasthead Athasian giant and the humanoid Athasian giant first appeared in the originalDark Sun Campaign Setting (1991).[27] The beasthead Athasian giant, the desert Athasian giant, and the plains Athasian giant appear in theMonstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of Athas (1992). The beasthead Athasian giant, the desert Athasian giant, and the plains Athasian giant were later reprinted in theexpanded and revisedDark Sun Campaign Setting (1995)[28] The shadow giant appears in theDark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995).[29] The crag giant first appeared inThe Wanderers Chronicle:Mind Lords of the Last Sea (1996),[30] and was reprinted inMonstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four (1998).[31]
Theathach and the hephaeston appear in theMonstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix (1994).
The bookGiantcraft (1995) describes the giants of theForgotten Realmscampaign setting in detail.[32]
Several giants for theDragonlance campaign setting appear inDragon #256 (February 1999), including the cave lords, the desolation giants, and the earth giants.
Giants appear in theMonster Manual for this edition (2000), where they are presented as a type of creature. Giants appearing in this book include the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant.[33]
The fog giant and the phaerlin giant appear in theMonstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (2001) for the Forgotten Realms setting.[34]
The forest giant, the ocean giant, and the sun giant appear in this edition'sMonster Manual II (2002).[35]
The Jotunheim frost giant and the Muspelheim fire giant appear inDeities and Demigods (2002) for this edition.[36]
Savage Species (2003) presents the fire giant, the frost giant, and the stone giant as both races and playable classes.[37]
The bog giant and the shadow giant appear in theFiend Folio (2003) for this edition.[38]
Giants appear in the revisedMonster Manual for this edition (2003), including the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant and the frost giant jarl, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant. The hill giant dire wereboar appears as a sample creature under thelycanthrope entry.
The death giant, the eldritch giant and eldritch giant confessor, and the sand giant and sand giant champion first appear inMonster Manual III (2004).[39]
The frost giant mauler, the frost giant spiritspeaker, and the frost giant tundra scout appear inFrostburn: Mastering the Perils of Ice and Snow (2004).[40]
The craa'ghoran giant appears in theMonster Manual IV (2006).[41]
Giants appear in theMonster Manual for this edition (2008), including death giants (the death giant and the death titan), earth giants (the hill giant and the earth titan), fire giants (the fire giant, the fire giant forgecaller, and the fire titan), and storm giants (the storm giant and the storm titan).Giant is no longer a creature type; instead, giants belong to the humanoid type. Giants generally have thenatural origin, although death giants and death titans have theshadow origin, and earth, fire and storm titans have theelemental origin.[42]
TheDungeons & Dragons 4th editionPlayer's Handbook 2 included the playable character race of the Goliaths (originally found inRaces of Stone). These stone-skinned mountain dwellers are larger than regular races,[43] and have giant ancestry.
Eldritch, frost, and stone giants appear in theMonster Manual 2 (2009).
The verbeeg return in theMonster Manual 3 (2010), along with additional fire, frost and hill giants, and a "giant" keyword creature, the Cthonic Apostle.[44]
The Monster Vault (2010) reprises the earth, frost, hill, and storm giants for the Essentials line.
Giants, within the fifth edition of theDungeon & Dragons Monster Manual include cloud giants, fire giants, frost giants, hill giants, stone giants, and storm giants. Each race of giants listed is no longer labeled ashumanoids, as in the fourth edition, but are labeled ashuge giants.[45]
Variants of each of the "true giants" were introduced inVolo's Guide to Monsters, including cloud giant smiling ones, fire giant dreadnoughts, frost giant everlasting ones, mouths of grolantor, stone giant dreamwalkers, and storm giant quintessents.[46][47] Firbolgs and goliaths were made available as player character races.[48][49]
The adventureStorm King's Thunder centers around giants and details their rune magic[47] and the sourcebookBigby Presents: Glory of the Giants focused on giants.
There are six types of classic "true giant" in the coreDungeons & Dragons game:
Giant-kin are largehumanoids related to the 'true' giants. The mythology of theForgotten Realms has it that the mother of all giants, Othea, cheated on her unfaithful husband, Annam, the father of giants, with Ulutiu, a minor deity associated with theGreat Glacier. Othea and Ulutiu sired the four giant-kin races: Firbolgs, Verbeegs,Voadkyn, andFomorians. Othea also conceived theogre race withVaprak.[32]: 9–10, 16 [61][62]
The storm giant was ranked fourth among the ten best high-level 4th Edition monsters by the authors ofDungeons & Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies. The authors described the storm giant as being "at the top of the giant world, at least as far as theMonster Manual is concerned", as they are encountered with "hurling thunderbolts from afar, using howling winds to scatter enemies, and fighting with a lightning-edged greatsword when the battle gets up close and personal".[63]
The elder titans, who "stand above giants and possess even more power in terms of their physical and magical capabilities", were ranked among the strongest creatures in the game by Scott Baird fromScreen Rant.[3]
Bleeding Cool found the firbolg one "of the more distinctive race options in the D&D multiverse" in a 2016 review ofVolo's Guide to Monsters.[64] In 2021,Comic Book Resources counted the firbolg as one of the "7 Underused Monster Races in Dungeons & Dragons", stating that "Firbolgs are a blend of strength and magic, making them useful for classes that blend the two. Firbolgs work well as Clerics and Druids, but they can also make for a good Ranger. Your harmony with nature will leave you definitely wanting to have a nature focus, but you'll also stand out in a crowd. As a naturally shy race, be sure to consider that when playing your character. Typically speaking, Firbolgs aren't aggressive."[65]
Role-playing game authorGraeme Davis consideredDungeons & Dragons a major factor in current perceptions that "giants and trolls are regarded as very different creatures", while the names were used interchangeably in Norse mythology.[66]
Giants was published byMayfair Games in 1987 and gave in-depth descriptions both about giants already known in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as well as new ones.[67]
The cloud giant, fire giant, frost giant, hill giant, marsh giant, rune giant, stone giant, storm giant, and taiga giant are fully detailed inPaizo Publishing's bookGiants Revisited (2012), for use with thePathfinder Roleplaying Game.[68]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)lève le voile sur certains des plus grands mystère de la mythologie faerûnienne, comme la première Guerre des Dragons, ou la mort d dieu Ulutiu
Ulutiu choisit la mer du nord comme dernière demeure. [...] un collier magique qui devait le conserver dans la glace. Mais le puissant artefact [...] se mit à geler l'eau environnante. Le glacier grandit [...]